suggestions for openings for black against e4

The only e4 defense I find doesn't have some major downside to it is the sicilian.

e4/e5 is too much about rote memorization. And white mostly chooses the variation.

The french is great but it's simply boring in many lines... though I will say there's not alot white can do to spice up the french. It's the best alternative to the sicilian but I couldn't play the french every game.

The Caro-Kann there are just too many chaotic attacks against it and it's all up to white what variation he wants to go into. Some people apparently find defending all of that fun but I will pass.

The nimzowitsch defense you end up in a bad hypermodern position and you should just play the modern. Or you get transposed right back into e4/e5.

The modern... well you have to play a hypermodern opening, it's not the kind of game most people find enjoyable.

The Pirc... is just worse than the modern, play the modern.

Alekhines... white has a simple formulaic way of dealing with it, it's just not that great at that point.

Scandinavian... can be fun but we all know it's dubious.

Sicilian is the only line with no downside... Luckily there are like 20 different sicilians you can play.

While the sicilian has alot of theory, there are also sidelines that'll allow you to bypass the theory, and you basically have control over which variation you want to play. But learning chess is a very long term commitment, don't expect quick results... taking shortcuts doesn't get you very far.

Sicilian is generally not an attacking opening, it's a defensive positional opening, although underlying the positions are alot of tactics. The positions often break down into tactics, and at that point black can play for a win... black also has a long term structural advantage with the pawns in the center. So maybe watch a few youtube videos before you invest in a course on it.

But if you like attacking... e4/e5 is honestly the best option. Maybe the Scandinavian is an alternative.

At your level some early sideline in e4/e5 could allow you to attack without learning tons of lines. The Latvian gambit is one option. It may not be a completely sound opening but it's not going to matter until you're rated alot higher...

Infact... even at 2200+ elo rapid on lichess black still has a positive winrate in the latvian gambit, funnily enough. So for all the talk you hear of this being refuted it's really not happening.

Some lines in the french are very aggressive, like the winawer... but then you have other lines like the exchange which are very dry, so it's a mixed bag in that regard.